Parent Behavioral Training: Why and When Some Parents Drop Out

Abstract

Examined variables related to persistence in treatment. Subjects were parents applying for an outpatient parent-training intervention at a large university hospital. Persistence was examined separately for intake and treatment. Variables of interest at both stages were sex, marital and socioeconomic status, referral source, distance from the clinic, and parent personality. Type of therapist (trainee or staff), child diagnosis, and case difficulty were examined during the treatment stage. Split-sample multivariate analyses suggested that factors associated with persistence differed considerably between the stages. Persistence through intake was associated with only one parent-personality variable, and persistence through treatment was associated only with therapist type. Predictive value of variables at intake and treatment stages exceeded base rates.